Bruce Wood Dance is included on the Texas Commission on the Arts Texas Touring Roster. Presenters may apply for a portion of the booking fee through the Cultural Connections Performance Support grant application and may get up to 50 percent of the fee underwritten. For more information contact:

Bruce Wood Dance has overcome the loss of its founder to become one of America’s most exciting dance prospects

Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) is poised to join the ranks of international touring companies and bring the big heart of Dallas to the rest of the country and beyond. A dynamic, compelling, contemporary dance company, it is built on the vision and prolific output of acclaimed Texan choreographer Bruce Wood.®

The company has just signed with promoters KMP Artists, meaning international audiences can expect to seem them on global stages in the near future. For now though, the company is focused on upcoming shows in Dallas at the Bruce Wood Dance Gallery and Moody Performance Hall in Dallas on November 17+18.

“Bruce Wood Dance Project also had a strong year, with a resolve that the group can strive for national excellence two years after the death of its namesake . . .

[#1] The single best dance in 2016 was BWDP dancer Joy Bollinger’s Carved In Stone, deeply emotional and striking in its stillness. That made it perfect on a bill that also included Andy and Dionne Noble’s quirky and visually memorable Skin and Wood’s delightful Anything Goes, set to Cole Porter songs . . .

[#5] Another mesmerizing BWDP program, with Wood’s haunting No Sea to Sail In, the premiere of artistic director Kimi Nikaidoh’s Bloom, with intriguing video of the dancers floating; and closing with the comic, energetic freshness of Katarzyna Skarpetowska’s Klezmer Rodeo.”

Chief Dance Critic Margaret Putnam offers her Top 10 Dance Events of the Year, Focusing on New Work

“This was a tough year for a dance critic: a raft of great works and only 10 to choose. I could easily stack the deck with about everything TITAS offered, but to be fair to the locals, they merit attention too. Why? So many compelling premieres . . .

(2) Making a stunning debut with Carved in Stone, Joy Atkins Bollinger’s haunting 25-minute piece had nothing to do with rigidity and everything to do with rebirth and discovery . . .

(5) The company took a risk with the collaborative efforts of artistic director Kimi Nikaidoh and video artist Shane Pennington in a soulful Bloom, where sorrow gradually gives way to trust and hope . . . In a much jauntier mood, Katarzyna Skarpetowska’s rough-and-tumble Yesod was one long, heady romp as dancers catapulted in different directions, careened and tossed each other into the air.”

“. . . The first is Bruce Wood Dance Project’s Joy Atkins Bollinger and her choreographic debut Carved in Stone . . . the dance delivered beautifully picturesque moments, yet transitioned between them with grace and etherealness. The best part came when the cast almost doubled in size to close out the work, proving power and elegance can be achieved simply in numbers.”

“. . . The biggest surprise of the local dance year was Joy Atkins Bollinger’s Carved In Stone, a moving lyrical work . . . The longtime Wood company member is a highly expressive performer, but nothing could have prepared us for the power of her major choreographic debut.”